Monday, November 07, 2016

You Can't Miss This

We have been waiting for the domino effect - for one of the due ladies to start labor in order to begin the chain reaction for this month's due Mommas. For whatever reason birth happens in spurts. Ten days without a birth, followed by three or four births right in a row is the way it typically goes. Finally at 5am this morning the first lady arrived. She probably would have chosen to come earlier but the heavy rains last night made it difficult to do that. She delivered at 7:31am and then proceeded to attempt to bleed all her blood. We did every possible trick and med we have and knew we needed to take her elsewhere - in case an OR is what it takes. Thankfully we got her quickly transferred to a hospital that can perform a hysterectomy if needed and transfuse her as well if that seems important. We anxiously await some news from her sister once she has some. The baby boy looked healthy, although we were pretty focused on Mom and did not do have any opportunity to do a full newborn exam yet. Props to Troy boy. I called him before coffee and he arrived and went to work. Troy is by far the best ambulance driver on that particular route, he does not fear and that means even with heavy traffic we manage to arrive in record time.We have just had an entire weekend of resting and larding out - it was glorious. Phoebe had requested for her last birthday gift that the entire family be in the pool at one time for a minimum of 30 minutes; Chestnut the ShihTzu included. (But not Hazelnut the Mastiff, because we are not quite that dumb.) We were required to jump in all at once and Lydia and Isaac smacked hard into each other which meant the first 5 minutes of family swim was filled with Lydia's tears and Isaac's apologies. An entire weekend of downtime is fairly rare. We made the very most of it. I read all weekend and was so moved by what I read that I want to share it and encourage you to read it too. There is a reason behind my encouragement ... I have learned that most of things we judge and jump to conclusions about, are things we have little experience with in our real day to day lives. (Perhaps they are things we feel afraid of too?) For example, prior to working in Maternal Health my views were very myopic about birth control, etc. Until I had years of experience living with women that carry a burden so heavy it is unimaginable, I had a lot of answers for those women. Actually knowing them and the real situations made my answers for them pretty lame and unrealistic. Additionally, before I had lived as the minority and guest in another culture for some time, I would have down played racial tensions and prejudices. Sometimes our strongest held opinions are rooted in our lack of experience(s). All that to say ... This weekend I read an on-line memoir - The memoir is Brett Trapp's story of growing up Christian and gay in the south and how he experienced life and trying to find a way to change and what it was like to come out. I have never read anything quite so vulnerable and I found his story to be both tragic and beautiful. I love his writing and am touched by the chance to learn from his story. It is so worth your time.Please check it out, it is divided into 44 episodes. You can begin by clicking here.

Who we are...

To Reach Us: Livesayfamily@gmail.com - We live, learn, love, & work in Port au Prince, Haiti. In the twelve years we've been here, one thing we've learned: God is not made manifest in our ability to "fix" or heal, but in our need to be healed. Recognizing this weakness leaves us in a position of having little to offer. It reveals our own need to be restored. We are not fixers of people or things. We are here trying to extend love and grace to others, the way it has been extended to us.

May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships - so that we may live deep within our hearts. May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people - so that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace. May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war - so that we may reach out our hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in the world - so that we can do what others claim cannot be done, to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor. Amen. (Franciscan Benediction)

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